1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-heat-retention ladle for carrying molten aluminum, and more particularly, to a high-heat-retention ladle that can carry molten aluminum for a long time in a heat-insulated state in order to cast a product by directly pouring the molten aluminum into a mold without having to convert raw materials into an ingot and then melt the ingot again.
2. Description of Related Art
Aluminum is used as a component material for a variety of machines such as vehicles and aircraft. Aluminum is generally used in the form of alloys combined with other light metals in order to increase its strength, and aluminum alloys can reduce the weight of products by 50% or more compared to typical steel materials. Therefore, the use of aluminum materials is continuously increasing due to their advantageous effects. For example, aluminum materials can improve performance by decreasing the weight of structures, and can especially reduce the use of energy and the output of pollutants in consideration of high oil prices and environmental problems, which are becoming more important these days.
A considerable portion (about 40%) of aluminum (alloy) products is produced by a casting method in which raw materials are melted by loading them into a smelter, and then molten metal is formed into a particular shape by pouring it into a mold. The casting method is widely used in the manufacture of components of machines since it has excellent advantages in terms of productivity and size consistency.
A conventional process of producing products by aluminum casting such as die casting includes first processing of making an aluminum ingot by melting raw materials and second processing of casting final products by melting the aluminum ingot again.
That is, an aluminum ingot is prepared as an intermediate product by melting an aluminum raw material, which is refined or reproduced in a raw material alloying plant, alloying metals, and the like and pouring molten metal into a mold. Afterwards, a product casting plant produces a final product by again melting the aluminum ingot, which is supplied thereto, and performing a casting process, such as die casting.
As described above, in the conventional art, aluminum is carried in the form of an ingot to the casting plant even though it is melted in the raw material alloying plant. Therefore, the casting process of making the aluminum ingot in the alloying plant incurs high manpower and facilities costs, and the cycle of supplying aluminum is prolonged, thereby decreasing cost efficiency and productivity.
The product casting plant also incurs a great amount of time and expense in the process of melting the aluminum ingot again, thereby decreasing cost efficiency and productivity. In addition, a considerable amount of materials is additionally lost due to the oxidation of aluminum during melting. Furthermore, this causes problems of a deteriorated working environment and air pollution in the surroundings since a great amount of dust and pollutants, such as SOx or NOx, is produced.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for the enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this information forms a prior art that would already be known to a person skilled in the art.